Social Media

Justin Bieber, Startup Investor?

Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber is probably the only 17-year-old in the world any early stage startup would love to give large chunks of equity to. It's not about his money so much as his social media power.

His 12.6 million Twitter fans are some of the most active around, according to the company; they account for about 3% of Twitter's infrastructure at any given time. His video for "Baby" was the most watched on YouTube last year.

Now sources within the startup scene say Bieber is about to launch himself into a new role: angel investor for early stage companies.

Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, has talked about such a move for some time. Here's what he told TechCrunch at its conference in June: "For all of you young entrepreneurs out there watching, if you have a brilliant idea, Troy [Lady Gaga's manager] and I will combine the powers of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. Give us a large piece of equity."

"I realized that the power our artists have created for themselves on Facebook, on Twitter on YouTube are very, very valuable for launching these platforms," he added. "The great thing about technology that works, and that isn't dependent on a Gaga or a Justin, but can be launched by a Gaga or a Justin."

Braun did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In case there were any doubt about Bieber's influence, he posted a photo of Los Angeles traffic on Instagram in July. The startup's servers blew up with traffic that resembled a pattern a site might experience if it were being hacked. About 50 users started following him every minute and left one comment every 10 seconds.

A source familiar with Bieber's business team said this kind of online influence has not gone unnoticed by the companies with which they're talking business. The source is familiar with one startup that met with Bieber's team about investing.

Another source says Bieber's business team has already agreed to invest in a different company, a New York-based fashion photo sharing startup called Thre.ad. The startup itself denies this.

Thre.ad's founder, Mimi Nguyen, is connected to Bieber through a non-profit organization she co-founded, called Pencils of Promise. Bieber is the organization's spokesperson. He follows her on Twitter and she has tweeted about being at an event with him.

"If he ever wants to [invest], I wouldn't be against that," Nguyen says.

Bieber has been spotted hanging out with at least one New-York based startup investor. As Business Insider pointed out last week, a YouTube clip of Bieber playing basketball with NBA player Steve Nash also features Mide Duda, the co-partner of Nash's venture capital firm, Consigliere Brand Capital.

Bieber would hardly be the first mega-celebrity to make a foray into the startup scene. Ashton Kutcher has been playing the investor game for years, and lent his reputation and funds to Foursquare, Path, Flipboard, Airbnb and Skype. Lady Gaga, meanwhile, is an investor in Turntable.fm and Bre.ad.

For musicians like Bieber and Gaga, tech investments make sense. Digital downloads are outpacing profits from album sales. Between 1999 and 2009, total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing dropped by more than half. Artists are looking for other ways to capitalize on their fame. Meanwhile, celebrity activity on platforms like Twitter is an important driver of early success for startups.

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